Bashkir language facts for kids

The Bashkir language is a special language spoken by the Bashkir people. It belongs to the Turkic language family. Most people who speak Bashkir live in Russia, especially in a region called Bashkortostan.

You can also find many Bashkir speakers in other parts of Russia. These include places like Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Perm Krai, and the areas around Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, and Kurgan. More than 1.4 million people speak Bashkir around the world!

Bashkir Alphabet

Just like many other languages in Russia, Bashkir uses an alphabet based on Cyrillic letters. You might know that the Russian alphabet has 33 letters. The Bashkir alphabet uses all of those, plus 9 extra letters!

These 9 special letters help to make unique Bashkir sounds that aren't found in Russian. Here are these special letters and what sounds they make:

• Ә ә /æ/
• Ө ө /ø/
• Ү ү [y]
• Ғ ғ /ʁ/
• Ҡ ҡ /q/
• Ң ң /ŋ/
• Ҙ ҙ /ð/
• Ҫ ҫ /θ/
• Һ һ /h/

Images for kids

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  This map shows where Bashkir people live in Russia, based on information from 2010.

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  This sign at Ufa Airport shows words in three languages: Bashkir, Russian, and English.

See also

• Turkic languages
• Bashkortostan